We've got two new Co-Op Classics videos for your perusal today. The first is an innovative title from the dawn of co-op video gaming, Rip Off. The second is Desert Assault, a run and gun experience for up to four players from the heyday of the co-op arcade scene of the early 1990s.

Welcome to Beyond Co-Op, a weekly piece that talks about industry stories that may or may not be related to co-op gaming. We like to take a look around the industry and see what news and links may interest you in the world fo gaming.

A good chunk of the staff is spending their Friday night with the awesome Co-Optimus community playing the PC game Magicka in glorious and explosive 4 player co-op. After that there's plenty of other releases to be had with the likes of Dungeon Defenders, Saints Row, and many other solid titles to occupy our time. With temperatures below freezing around a lot of the United States this weekend it's a good time to catch up on said gaming.

Okay, that headline may be a little misleading. The screens are new, but the videos aren't necessarily hot off the press. I noticed we have yet to post any videos from NeverDead, and with the game's upcoming release, it seems like a good opportunity to show you guys exactly what this game is all about. I could just tell you about Bryce, the 500 year old demon hunter, and his uncanny ability to not die, but I think I'll just let you watch these vids instead. The first video is from E3 2010, and it captures the tongue-in-cheek tone of the game:

Earlier this week we brought you news of an online petition to bring Dark Souls to PC. I know, online petitions are a dime a dozen. Hell, even that's a little pricey. Despite the perceived futility of online requests, the Dark Souls for PC petition has managed to gain over 66,000 signatures in the week it has been active. This outpouring of support for a PC version has not gone unnoticed by the higher-ups at Namco Bandai. An NB Europe forums administrator, Tony Shoupinou, riled up the community with this post yesterday:

A snapshot of a retail pamphlet lists a plethora of titles that are planned to be released on the Playstation Vita in the USA. Two co-op games that we are excited about are listed; Army Corps of Hell and Monster Hunter Portable 3.

It's not often a real life homie gets to be your virtual homie in a game, but such is the case with the new Saints Row: The ThirdDLCcoming out on January 17th. The Cheapy D DLC will be available on all three versions of the game and will give you access to Cheap Ass Gamer's founder CheapyD. You'll be able to call him up on your phone to join your gang of scantily clad ninjas to deal with the many gangs of the game.

When we first mentioned Orc Attack last week, some readers took issue with the upcoming brawler's abundance of potty humor. From the character names (Lord Poop), to the main characters' burping and farting attacks, Orc Attack certainly includes a lot more 'gas and crass' than other games. Just watch the trailer (included after the break) and you'll hear what I mean. UK developer Casual Brothers is not deaf to player concerns, and so they've kindly explained the importance of Orc Attack's potty humor to Co-Optimus. Plus we've dug up some info on the game's promising multiplayer features.

A new Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 deck pack launched this week. This is the third such pack to hit the downloadable card game. Simply titled "Deck Pack #3," it includes two new playable decks for use in both the single player, multiplayer, and co-op modes of the game:

The new trailer for Binary Domain really sets the mood. We've got people staring longingly into each other's eyes, spiffy music, someone yelling "Nooooooo!," and robot self mutilation. Plus there's an abundance of gunplay, explosions, and at 1:24, I'm pretty sure a dude is humping a computer. Sounds like a party to me!

We first learned that The Simpsons Arcade would be coming home to Xbox Live Arcade back in November, but news has been scarce since then. Just recently, however Xbox360Achievements.org published the game's full Achievement list. That alone is good news because it usually means that the game will come out within the next month or two. A quick glance at the Achievements themselves reveals another interesting fact: both the English (worldwide) and Japanese versions will be included in the port.